Former Navy SEAL Gomez enlists in Senate campaign

BOSTON (AP) -- Gabriel Gomez, a Cohasset businessman and former U.S. Navy SEAL, officially launched his campaign for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, becoming the second Republican to announce a bid for the seat formerly held by Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry.

Gomez announced his decision in a statement and a video. He said a formal campaign kickoff would come on Feb. 28, which is one day after the deadline candidates face to collect the 10,000 signatures needed to qualify for the primary ballot.

The primary will be held on April 30 and a special election is scheduled for June 25.

The 47-year-old Gomez, who has never held elective office, positioned himself as an outsider, pointing to "a lot of unproductive noise and bickering" in Washington.

"I'm running because I refuse to be cynical about America or America's future. Certainly people will say, 'This can't be fixed,"' Gomez said. "But sending career politicians to the do the job would be the same old, same old. Our country is better than its politics."

Gomez, who was born in Los Angeles to parents who immigrated to the US from Columbia, speaks both in Spanish and English in the campaign video. In a brief biography accompanying the video, he describes growing up in "a grateful, first generation American family," which instilled in him a duty to give back to his country, prompting his decision to enter the military.

In the video Gomez also highlighted his experience as a graduate of the U.S.

Advertisement

Naval Academy, a Navy aircraft carrier pilot and Navy SEAL.

Gomez didn't return phone messages left by The Associated Press about his decision to enter the race.

He had been trying to line up support ahead of his announcement. On Tuesday his campaign released a statement by former GOP Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey in which she praised Gomez for his "common sense and experience" but also stated that "primaries are healthy for our party."

Kerry was sworn in as the U.S. secretary of state on Feb. 1, and Gov. Deval Patrick appointed William "Mo" Cowan to serve as interim senator until the special election. Cowan is not running for the seat.

Norfolk state Rep. Daniel Winslow became the first Republican to announce his candidacy last week. A spokeswoman for state Senate Republican Leader Bruce Tarr said Monday night that he was still "vetting" his decision on whether to run. Jennie Cassie, a member of the Governor's Council, has also said she is considering entering the race.

On the Democratic side, U.S. Reps. Edward Markey and Stephen Lynch announced their candidacies. Marisa DeFranco, an immigration attorney, is also weighing a run.

Many high-profile Republicans, including former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and former Gov. William Weld, have decided not to run. That has opened the field for lesser known candidates.

They also faulted Gomez's association with a group that criticized President Barack Obama for taking too much credit for the death of Osama bin Laden. The group -- Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund Inc. -- produced a 22-minute video during last year's presidential election criticizing Obama.

During an interview last year on MSNBC, Gomez credited Obama for giving the green light for the special operation to kill bin Laden but defended the video. Gomez said Obama should have given more credit to the troops and taken less credit for himself.

"The only time that these presidents, Lincoln and Eisenhower and other wartime presidents, ever used the word 'I' was when they said 'I thank you' to the troops," Gomez said during the interview.

In announcing bin Laden's death, Obama credited "the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals" for disrupting terrorist attacks and strengthening homeland defenses.

Gomez contributed $250 to Obama's primary campaign in 2008. He also contributed to then-President George W. Bush in 2004 and gave $2,500 to Romney's presidential campaign in 2011.

Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh criticized Gomez for "hanging out last year with a secretive group that tried, and failed, to damage the president for his handling of bringing justice to Osama bin Laden." He suggested Gomez was trying to run "the Romney Campaign 2.0."

Gomez, who left the Navy in 1996 to earn a master's degree from Harvard Business School, has worked for the private equity firm Advent International since 2004.

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sun. So keep it civil.